A gun law no one could oppose ( but will they?)

 

 

 In the last two days two people have been shot and killed by a four year old and six year old respectively who got their hands on an adult's gun and killed someone accidentally.

Three days ago in Tennessee the six year old nephew of a sheriff's deputy got his hands on a gun that was not secured and accidentally shot the deputy's wife in the head killing her. Two days ago, in Toms River N. J. a four year old took the unsecured rifle of his father and accidentally shot and killed his six year old playmate.

In February three year old Temorej Smith found a pink handgun in his house he thought was a toy and shot himself in the head killing him. In December of 2012, a four year old boy in Houston and a 5 year old girl in Philadelphia accidentally shot themselves with guns owned by their parents.

Last year more than five other children were killed in the same way, a child getting his or her hands on a gun owned by, according to Wayne LaPierre, a "law abiding responsible citizen" and then accidentally killed another child either at school or at the home.

And lets not forget, the 27 killed at Newtown Connecticut were killed by a shooter who used his mother's unsecured AR-15 which she left laying around.

These guns were owned by people who Wayne LaPierre calls " law abiding responsible citizens". Except these people are anything but responsible and are only law abiding because there are no laws currently on the books that would make their gross negligence and irresponsibility a felony.

This should stop.

States need to pass a Firearms Responsibility Act that would make the registered owner of a gun criminally liable as an accessory to any crime committed by any third party with the gun registered in their name and also make them criminally responsible for any bodily harm or death caused by their gun in the hands of someone else. And there should be a federal law that bans any person whose gun was used by anyone else in a crime or caused bodily harm from obtaining a gun for life.

This will insure that "responsible" gun owners who have been irresponsible become responsible and those who aren't will go to jail, pay the price for being a convicted felon, and lose their ability to own a gun for life.

 

This will also make those who buy or provide guns for others criminally liable for what happens with that gun if it can be traced which will help cut down on gun trafficking since it will be less likely that anyone trafficking in illegal guns, or buying guns to illegally sell to others in the U.S ( most of the guns used in crimes in New York City were purchased in Virginia) will be willing to go to jail for whatever crimes are committed with those guns.

In the case of the two people shot and killed in the last three days by children getting their hands on guns left lying unsecured by adults, no charges will be filed against anyone because it is being ruled an accident.

It was no accident. It was criminal negligence on the part of the adults who left the gun lying around where a child could get it. And the sooner legislatures wake up to that fact, the sooner there will be more "law abiding responsible gun owners" who will become even more law abiding and responsible than before. Or face prison.

There are three  other common sense gun laws that would cut down on the sale of illegal guns and gun trafficking:

1. Anyone purchasing more than two guns within any 30 day period other than a licensed gun dealer must register and go into a special data base identifying people purchasing multiple guns within that 30 day period.

2. Make it a federal crime with mandatory prison time for transporting a firearm from a state where that firearm is legal to a state where it is illegal.

3. No one with an out of state I.D. can purchase more than one gun within a 60 day period. This will eliminate situations where a gun trafficker can go to a state like Virginia with its lax gun laws and buy a trunk load of guns to sell illegally in a place like New York.

With states having the explicit right to ban any guns they wish and impose any restrictions they wish, its not as important for the federal goverment to pass laws banning certain kinds of weapons as people seem to think. The states can do it and federal laws can be passed to insure that these laws arent violated by people in states where these weapons are legal.